0:00

This is Kofi Kingston and you're listening

0:02

to the best of the new day. Feel

0:04

the power on Spotify. It's

0:06

a new day. Yes,

0:08

it is.

0:28

Welcome to the greatest podcast

0:31

of all time, which is entitled the

0:33

new day. Feel

0:43

the

0:45

power.

0:59

Hey,

1:03

baby.

1:07

There it is. There it is. I am

1:10

Xavier Woods. And I

1:13

am Big E. Used

1:16

to be Langston. Now it's just

1:18

Big E. They ran out of letters

1:21

for your boy.

1:22

I thought you were going

1:24

to go on with it. And I am

1:26

Kofi Kingston.

1:30

And before we introduce our fantastic

1:32

guest for today, we just wanted to

1:35

say something real quick about this, this draft

1:37

and this, this whole situation of us not being

1:39

on the same show anymore. And we want to let you all know

1:42

the podcast will still continue

1:44

on strong. Podcast

1:46

lives on. Yes. The podcast will live on. Always.

1:49

It'll continue. I don't know. Is it

1:51

strong? It'll continue. It'll

1:53

continue. It's strong.

1:55

I think I'm planning on petering out if that's OK with you guys. Yeah, that's

1:57

fine. Right. Let

2:00

us know if we can do like a big like, hoorah,

2:02

last one. No, I mean, I'll be here, I'll

2:05

be here. But I'm just saying, I mean,

2:07

am I phoning in? Like, I mean,

2:09

let's be honest. Have we not been? Have we

2:11

not been? Right, right, right, right. I'm just saying, I don't

2:14

wanna promise strong when

2:16

I'm coming real weak to

2:18

the pink. Okay, that's

2:20

fair. But your weak is my strong, so.

2:22

Oh, wow. No, no, man, it ain't

2:25

all that. See that, see that? I appreciate that. I

2:27

appreciate it. Wow.

2:32

A man who's always been strong, just

2:35

joining us today. So there's some

2:37

people who know him as an

2:39

announcer and they don't know about his past, his

2:42

experience inside of the ring, cracking

2:44

skulls, doing damage to muchos

2:47

personas. And that's what gives

2:49

him this knowledge when he's on commentary to

2:51

be able to call matches with the intensity,

2:54

the fervor, the love, the passion that

2:56

he does.

2:57

Ladies and gentlemen,

2:59

one of the greatest announcers of our generation,

3:01

we give to you Byron,

3:05

Saxton, Miles, Miles. Wow. Wow.

3:09

There he is. That was an introduction.

3:12

Yes. And by the way, I'm requesting

3:14

now to be known as Byron the Skullcracker

3:17

Saxton. Ooh. That's all you have

3:19

to say. You like that, right there. That's all you have to say. I'll call

3:21

you the Skullcracker. Also,

3:23

you might be the godfather of the new

3:26

day because as we've

3:28

said on this podcast before, the antecedents

3:31

for the new day was the

3:33

plan. And I can't

3:35

even remember whose idea was it for the plan. So the plan

3:38

was a faction, Byron Saxton, me,

3:40

and Woods when we were in FCW. And

3:43

it never, we got to do it in promo practice. We were so excited

3:45

about it. It never really saw the light of day on

3:47

any shows. I don't think we did any shows together. So

3:50

good. But that was in 2014, that

3:53

was what sparked the idea for

3:55

the new day. So honestly, if we hadn't

3:57

done that when we were in FCW, who

3:59

knew? knows where my career would

4:01

be, where Woods's would be, Kofi would still

4:04

be fine, I'm sure. But

4:06

do you remember Saks, how

4:08

we, even cause I don't remember why or how

4:10

we got to. I think so

4:12

I don't have the best memory in the world. Yeah, cause you know,

4:15

promo day was like, like this was one of those cases

4:17

where, you know, you had several, you know, talented

4:19

individuals like yourselves who were down at SDW. And

4:21

it's like, hey, we're throwing stuff against the wall. Let's give it a shot

4:24

and see what happens. And we all had, you know, still have

4:26

very distinctive personalities and I thought he created

4:28

a very good mesh. So the plan

4:31

for those of you who aren't so privy

4:33

to it was the people's liberation

4:35

of American nationalism. And

4:38

it was a situation where we all like Byron

4:41

saying, we all tried to stay in one certain lane

4:43

of like one type of guy. So like, I was

4:45

like, I was like the smallest guy of the group. So

4:47

like, I was the extreme hothead because I was the one who was

4:50

yelling and ah, come on. He was the muscle.

4:52

Saxon was like the calm collected. And then it's

4:54

funny. So I don't know if you remember,

4:56

there was one day we were supposed to do a promo.

4:59

Couldn't be there, but I remember going

5:01

to FedEx and I had a blow

5:03

up photo made of myself. I

5:08

still have in my house to this day. No.

5:11

Yes. Every

5:15

time I look at it, like if somebody sees it like, oh, you

5:17

really love yourself. I'm like, no, no, no, you don't understand. There's

5:19

a story behind it. I don't just have a blow

5:21

up photo of myself, trust me. Right.

5:24

Why is your own signature on it though? My

5:28

niece said it wasn't me. But

5:31

that's where the white and red suit that

5:33

was where we all wore white and red during

5:35

the promos. I think we probably only did that for what, like

5:38

a month or so. We actually at one point

5:40

we thought we were gonna get called up in the

5:42

gimmick. Was it, was it something

5:44

where we started, maybe it wasn't that. I think it was something

5:46

where there was a similar faction.

5:49

I think there was a faction with Camacho,

5:53

before it was Camacho, Punico,

5:55

Primo Epico. Yeah. And

5:58

then we were told, I think there were two. too

6:00

similar to them. And then the weirds kind of were like,

6:02

they were like, Hey, shut this down. I

6:06

remember. So yeah, it was kind

6:08

of the gang like implication and they were trying

6:10

to stay away from that. And so it kind of gotten

6:12

blown up. But it was crazy after that first promo.

6:14

I remember Dusty was like, Yes.

6:17

Yep. Yeah.

6:20

We're like, Yeah, but Dusty loved

6:22

like controversial characters.

6:24

He loved controversial storylines that we're going to

6:26

push the edge and and you know,

6:28

make you think a little bit and make

6:29

you a little uncomfortable. Like

6:31

you thrived on that. Man, that that would have been

6:33

a lot of fun. I wish we got at least like a house show run.

6:36

Just have some fun with the faction. But

6:39

it's wild to think that whatever we did and what probably 2011

6:41

to around there, I would assume that set the

6:47

stage for the new day in 2014. And

6:50

legit was

6:53

it was one of the it was one of the first things that I did

6:55

in that I got to mess around with that I felt was okay,

6:58

this is unique. We're going to think outside of the box

7:00

of just being angry big guy. And

7:02

it was cool to just be able to just I remember

7:05

just some of those conversations with the four of us, we

7:07

would put stuff together. But those conversations

7:09

with the four of us, it's

7:11

a different dynamic now with the three of us in

7:14

the new day, because it's a lot more, you know,

7:16

free spirited, it's a

7:19

nice night. And the plan

7:21

was pretty heavy stuff we were trying

7:23

to poke and prod at. But it was it was a really fun

7:25

experience for me. Yeah. And that's I mean, we

7:28

were always told in developmental, like,

7:30

this is going to be one of the most enjoyable parts

7:32

of your career because you really had that free

7:34

reign to just do whatever. And half

7:36

the time you didn't know if anybody like in WWE

7:39

was paying attention. But but

7:41

you did it anyway, you know, and like

7:43

to your point, some of the things that you

7:45

tried and some of the ideas that you incorporated

7:48

would end up being useful, you know, three, four

7:50

or five years down the road. Exactly. And

7:52

you were one thing that I remember and that I enjoyed

7:54

about like being in that in that group for

7:56

that that small standard time that we got to do it was I

7:58

know for me, I was definitely still searching

8:01

and trying to find like who I

8:03

wanted to be in wrestling because I had a million

8:05

ideas and I felt like well I could do like

8:07

this thing this thing but I wanted to like

8:09

I wanted to know for myself like who am

8:12

who am I and I felt like at that

8:14

time like you especially Saxon

8:16

like you were one of the guys that I looked at

8:18

that you have known who you were

8:20

or you seemingly have known exactly

8:22

who you were who you wanted to be in wrestling and that's what that was

8:25

why I was excited to work with you at that point in time

8:27

because I wanted to learn how to do that myself. Oh

8:29

thanks for saying that I was I wasn't so sure of myself

8:31

back then but

8:34

I'm glad I was able to fake it. Yeah

8:38

I think that's funny too because like I

8:40

got that same sense I remember when

8:43

you first came to developmental in STW

8:46

and we laugh about it now because promo

8:48

day for us was way different

8:51

than promo day in a performance

8:53

center you know what I'm saying like for

8:55

those who don't know Steve Kern used to run

8:57

things at STW and when we would have promo

8:59

day it would be us like getting

9:01

into different groups we'd go to like a random

9:04

spot in Florida like a beach or

9:06

like you know what I'm saying like a warehouse

9:09

or just somewhere random and then we'd be have

9:11

we would have to like put together a skit essentially.

9:13

I remember like you know before you came like the skits

9:16

that we would have would they be okay they'd be fun

9:18

and different but I distinctly remember

9:20

and actually me and Tyson Kidd we still

9:22

talk about this promo the one that you

9:24

had where you said your name like I

9:26

don't know maybe like 20 times in the course of the

9:28

promo and you'd say oh Brian Kelly

9:30

and you'd like turn to the camera and give like this

9:33

cheesy smile and like thumbs up

9:35

and I'm kicking myself because I feel so I used

9:37

to actually like take

9:39

all the tapes and put them on DVD

9:41

for Kern and I would always keep an extra

9:44

DVD so I have all of those somewhere

9:46

you know so I gotta like search through all the footage and like find

9:49

it but I remember even then realizing

9:51

just like how how versatile

9:54

you were and like how just articulate

9:57

on the mic and precise you were and even though

9:59

like the subject matter we were talking about wasn't

10:01

like the most intricate or

10:04

like, you know, like serious.

10:06

You could tell that you had something special on the mic

10:09

that like nobody else at that point had, you

10:11

know, so it's interesting

10:13

to see like, you know, you come down the line

10:15

and now here you are. Of course, you're

10:17

a color commentator. Of course, because

10:20

like, you're just so articulate on the

10:22

mic in that way and able to

10:25

just, you know, go off the cuff and go

10:27

off the fly and make things sound so natural. So

10:30

it's cool to see just your, your progression

10:33

because you spent, you spent some time in development,

10:35

you know, from old school FCW

10:38

all the way up. You know, how

10:40

long were you in there for? I was so

10:43

in total down in FCW, I got there in 2007 and

10:45

I didn't go on the road, you know,

10:50

full time to like 2015 is

10:52

so I mean, it was, it

10:54

was a minute. Oh my God.

10:57

Oh my God. It was, I mean, you know,

10:59

my time there, of course, like there, I had a couple of stints on

11:01

the road. So, you know, two years in, I went

11:04

on the road and I did ECW for a couple months. I never

11:06

like left developmental and then I came back and then it was NXT,

11:08

like the old NXT when it was like

11:11

the reality show kind of deal. Wow,

11:13

old NXT. Yeah. Oh

11:15

wow. Gosh,

11:19

that was a stressful time. I

11:21

want to hear all about that. But

11:24

just coming back and forth. But

11:25

by the time I was like on the road, on the road,

11:28

then yeah, it had been a while.

11:30

Yeah, man. What was your, what was your mentality going

11:32

through that? Because I know a lot of people, they would crack

11:35

and a lot of people did crack being there that long

11:37

and like not knowing just like

11:40

if the fruits of your labor are ever going to pay off because you're

11:42

down there trying your ass off. You know what I'm saying?

11:44

And like you were saying, like, you don't know if

11:46

anybody is even seeing this or anybody.

11:49

So what was your like, how did you, how did you like navigate

11:51

that? What was your mental process and getting through it?

11:54

I credit Dusty a lot and Dr. Tom, Steve Kerr and everybody for

11:56

allowing me just to do so many different things. Like,

11:59

you know, when I came in, I came in strictly as

12:01

a wrestler. Like my first match was, believe

12:03

it or not against Seamus, you

12:05

know, at that little club called Berber Street, we used to run

12:07

every season. That's right, Berber Street. You

12:10

survived. Yeah. Go here. But

12:12

then, you know, we started doing FCW TV. So

12:14

Dusty's like, hey, I want you to be a commentator. Next

12:17

thing you know, he's like, hey, I want you to be a manager. So I had

12:19

my whole stable of guys in FCW called

12:22

the conglomerate, you know? And then next thing

12:24

you know, you know, I'm ring announcing

12:26

on NXT, like when it became

12:28

the NXT as we know today. So I think,

12:31

don't get me wrong, I got frustrating at times and

12:33

you question yourself because you're human. But at the same

12:36

time, I always knew, all right, like I'm not going

12:38

to have the chance to get bored because I've got to

12:40

apply myself mentally towards

12:42

a different job every single time. So

12:45

I think I was blessed in that form. I

12:47

just kept rolling in my career. Even though I was in developmental,

12:50

I felt like it was always evolving. So it made it a little

12:52

easier for me to digest that way. When I first

12:54

got there, so I was buddies with Lance

12:56

Archer from when we were cool at TNA.

12:58

And I remember he was like, one of the guys that I knew there and he

13:00

was buddies with you. And you guys, I jumped, you guys

13:03

let me jump in the car with you to like go to the first show. And

13:05

that was the first time that I really like experienced all

13:07

that is Byron Saxton. With

13:14

the dietary restrictions that

13:16

a man such as yourself puts on yourself. Could

13:19

you talk about what your diet was like or just as

13:21

relevant? I mean, listen, people

13:23

always get on me about how I eat. And to me,

13:26

my philosophy is this, okay? It doesn't matter what

13:28

you intake, as long as you know what you're taking in colorically,

13:31

fat content wise, protein, carbs, it's

13:34

going in the same place. So people would give me

13:36

funny looks when I'm having like cod

13:38

with oatmeal, putting mustard on, say

13:40

like, I don't know my tofu or whatever. Like it

13:43

all goes in the same place. So you may look

13:45

at me and go, oh, that looks funky. That

13:47

smells weird. I'm going, this is my delicacy. And

13:49

it makes me happy. I

13:52

got it. Like I go, one of my

13:54

things, some people get really angry. Like I remember one

13:56

time, I think I was in Cleveland and

13:59

I stopped at a wall. waffle house like after a show as

14:01

many of us do. And my standard

14:04

operating procedure when it comes to breakfast food

14:06

is to order 14 egg whites. So,

14:09

you know, I walk into this waffle house and

14:12

of course I placed my order, the waitress

14:14

gives me a funny look, but now she has to communicate

14:16

this order to the guy who's actually gonna make my eggs.

14:19

And I could tell by his body language already he was

14:21

having a rough night. So she informs

14:23

him, you know, sorry, yeah, he wants 14 egg

14:25

whites. 14 egg

14:28

whites and he's yelling at her. And

14:33

I actually offered to go back there and help crack

14:35

the eggs. Poor

14:39

guy, he's like, he's gotta be like 60 plus

14:41

years old. He's got a bad hip, you know, the

14:45

eggs in his hand is crack, and

14:47

it's crack, and it's crack. Like,

14:50

I'm sorry, I just, I can't put the excess

14:52

fat and grease in my system. So, you know,

14:54

maybe in particular, but I just think I'm protecting my

14:56

temple. I just

14:58

feel like he's probably like just so, you

15:01

know, you offering to crack my

15:03

eggs? Oh my, how dead, just

15:05

so insulting, how dead. I was cracking

15:07

them with eggs. Yeah,

15:09

I don't need you to crack my

15:12

eggs. I don't need your egg whites. Come

15:14

here, tell me how to do my job. I'm

15:16

just trying to help the guy, I mean, you know.

15:19

Oh man, I'm active kindness. Well,

15:25

with that diet, because obviously, you know, you're keeping your body

15:27

in shape for wrestling, because you know,

15:29

we all try to look as good as we can. But

15:32

then talking about the fact that you were doing so many things

15:34

in developmental, you were announcing you were helping produce,

15:36

you were doing commentary. So like,

15:39

what is it that kept you going

15:41

through all of that? Because I know that in

15:44

my sense, in developmental, I wasn't there as long

15:46

as you were, but like, I got in those

15:48

modes of like, feeling bogged

15:50

down, like, okay, you know, maybe this isn't for me, I need

15:53

to get out of here. But like, I would frequently,

15:55

I'd frequently think about you, because

15:58

you no matter what. what came

16:00

in with a smile on your face, ready

16:02

to help every single person that you could. And

16:05

I feel like a person

16:07

like that is sometimes underestimated for

16:10

their skill in keeping

16:13

morale high for everyone around them.

16:16

That's the definition of somebody that you want

16:18

on your team, someone with the skills that you have, and

16:21

with the ability to make sure that other people continue to

16:23

make an attempt to grow those skills. So

16:25

what is it? Have you always been like this,

16:28

or is it just something that you decided, hey, I'm in development, I'll

16:30

be buckled down and do everything I can. What

16:32

is it about you that makes you like that? I

16:34

think, I mean, number one, it's my faith, knowing

16:36

that I'm not in control. I

16:39

praise my God and thank my God for everything he's done

16:41

for me and what he's done to guide me. And when

16:44

I kind of take that stress off my

16:46

shoulders, I put it on his and so it makes everything easier.

16:49

But when it came to wrestling

16:52

and developmental and

16:53

this company, I think also just reminding

16:56

myself of what it took to get here. Because

16:58

all of us, I mean, all of us

17:01

face adversity getting here to pursue

17:03

our dream. And

17:04

I tried to, I

17:06

mentioned the words of Dr. Tom

17:09

and Steve and Dusty, how they would tell us that this

17:11

will be the best time in your career. And I tried

17:13

to take that to heart. I love the camaraderie.

17:15

I love coming to work and

17:18

seeing you was, seeing you, Kofi, seeing you, E.

17:21

Despite the fact that maybe I was frustrated because I'm

17:23

like, dude, this is like pretty cool. We're

17:25

not digging ditches. No offense to people digging

17:27

ditches, but it's like, this is cool. How

17:30

many people can legit say they get to come to the dream

17:32

job every day? Yeah, it's not perfect. Nothing

17:34

in life is.

17:35

But 10 years ago, before I got

17:37

to WWE, five years prior, I would have

17:39

done anything. So it's just constantly

17:43

keeping that thought at the forefront of my

17:45

head that says, dude, you're lucky to be here.

17:47

Enjoy this. Tomorrow's not promised. Tomorrow's

17:50

not given to you. What do you make enough today?

17:52

So to this day, when I

17:55

walk into a locker room, when I go to work, make

17:57

the best of today because tomorrow.

17:59

I was never promised. So like we said,

18:02

the new day sparked from essentially the plan

18:04

that we were a part of in SCW with

18:06

you. But then you stayed

18:09

on that journey with us as we were creating the new day

18:11

because there was a time in WWE, people

18:14

don't remember, where there was the WWE app

18:16

and you could look on this phone

18:18

that you had and watch the app and watch the second

18:20

screen. And during that second screen, you could,

18:23

during commercials, keep watching matches or see

18:26

skits that are happening in the back or interviews. And

18:28

we would pretty much beg

18:30

to be on this app doing random

18:33

sketches together. And Brian,

18:35

you were always our interviewer, making

18:38

sure, like you're pretty much a straight man in

18:40

these skits. So

18:44

did you ever get annoyed with us constantly? Like,

18:46

hey, can you do this dumb thing with us? No, no,

18:49

because look, again,

18:51

talking about my road prior, I've

18:54

been on the road three other times and

18:56

taken off the road. So I was happy to do anything

19:00

and let alone do something that was fun. So

19:02

like you guys were coming up, like you were doing, what'd you

19:04

call it? I think you called it SmackDown Theater,

19:06

right? Oh yeah, yeah, theater, something like

19:08

that. Theater, something like that, yeah. Yeah, theater.

19:11

And you would come up with the most outlandish ideas

19:13

and I'm like, this is awesome. Like we're having fun. I

19:15

don't know if anybody's watching, but it doesn't matter. I

19:18

think you're gonna let me come on the road and do this. I'm

19:20

getting paid to like just goof off with these guys,

19:23

my friends, yeah, heck yeah, I'm here. Don't

19:27

ask me twice. It's the fun goofing off,

19:29

the fun goofing off. Yeah, yeah. Was

19:32

there something with like milk and

19:34

grapes and the rumor that you

19:36

were there, yes. Just all grapey? And

19:39

yeah, just the dumbest, looking back,

19:41

I'll watch them and they make me giggle, but

19:44

there's no way to translate any of that

19:47

to a wrestling character. But

19:49

I love that it was just a bunch of

19:51

guys and thankfully you were cool with

19:54

doing it because it's not your

19:56

job. It's not your job to be there, Mr. Raul with us, but I feel like

19:58

just those opportunities. to work together,

20:01

to build camaraderie, to

20:03

work on your timing together was so

20:06

instrumental for us. And you

20:08

were such a perfect caveat

20:10

and like a perfect vehicle, a conduit

20:13

is what I was looking for, for a lot of that stuff. So

20:15

we appreciate you being a straight man for a lot of stuff because

20:18

that was really big for us, for

20:20

us to be able to get more comfortable doing

20:23

promos and backstages and finding

20:26

what we wanted to do as a group. No,

20:28

it was as fun for me as it was for you because

20:31

again, knowing you guys for as long as I've known all

20:33

of you from developmental

20:36

and to see you guys doing the app and then go through the

20:38

struggles you were trying to go through to actually get

20:40

the new day together and make it a thing and

20:42

get people to buy into it. And then essentially

20:45

kind of change the business, especially

20:47

when it comes to tag team wrestling and entertainment

20:50

just in WWE alone. Like it's like, holy moly,

20:52

like a couple of years ago, these guys were just

20:54

struggling to get any TV time and now you got 80,000

20:57

going nuts for you. Yeah,

20:59

I mean, just to echo East sentiment too, I'm probably

21:01

gonna say the exact same thing as he said, but like

21:04

it's instrumental man, because at

21:06

that time, like we were really just trying to like

21:09

find ourselves and we wanted so desperately to

21:11

be a group on TV. We

21:13

didn't know quite what we wanted to do. We didn't know

21:15

how it was gonna come across, but the fact

21:17

that you were so willing to go along with all

21:20

the shenanigans that we like

21:22

put forth, like that's huge because the last

21:24

thing we wanted to like worry about was,

21:27

oh, is this other person

21:29

in this video? Are they gonna be okay with what we're saying?

21:31

And now we're having to like second guess what we're

21:33

saying and like what we're doing. And

21:36

you just made it so easy for us to be able

21:38

to, you know, like not second

21:40

guess ourselves and just be our

21:42

full selves and explore things that might've

21:44

been good. Sometimes we like he said,

21:47

we go back and we look at it. It probably wasn't

21:49

all that good, but what it was was

21:51

just that like that chemistry.

21:53

And, you know, like we

21:56

like look at ourselves now and we

21:58

know that we have a chemistry that is. is like unmatched.

22:01

And without you, we wouldn't

22:03

have been able to like take that step in

22:06

building what we have that's become so special now.

22:08

So, you know, definitely just

22:11

eternally grateful for that, man, for

22:13

sure. No, I mean, likewise, I mean,

22:15

to you, Kofi, I don't know if you remember, but just

22:18

early in FCW, when I got there, I remember

22:21

Dr. Tom kind of pulling you aside and saying,

22:23

hey, can you just get in the ring with this kid and kind

22:25

of work with him a little bit? And I just remember you

22:28

being so cool. I'm like, man, this guy's like top of the

22:30

class. Like he's gonna be gone in no time. I

22:32

actually think you might've been already in ECW. And

22:35

I'm like, oh my gosh, like Kofi, like it's

22:37

far now, he's walking up with me. It's

22:40

like, no. No. No.

22:42

No. No. Oh gosh.

22:46

But it's like, but you as, and I'm, Ian

22:48

and Xavier, I'm sure you guys would agree, like Kofi,

22:50

you have not changed, man. You have not changed

22:52

a bit. Still kind and warm. And in

22:54

our industry, that can be hard to find sometimes when people

22:57

attain a certain level of success. But

23:00

that the same guy that you were that was willing to help

23:02

out a young kid, just trying to find his way in

23:04

this company known as WWE, to

23:07

now being a former WWE champion, like

23:09

dude, I'm forever grateful. And

23:12

just as a group too, like you guys talk about

23:14

me being a conduit for you to kind of find

23:17

yourselves. You've done that for

23:19

me too, because whether it was the app, whether

23:21

it's on live events, watching

23:24

Biggie doing snow angels, or

23:26

whatever, but seeing how you guys

23:28

were so willing

23:30

to be goofy and be crazy

23:32

and be yourself and just invite

23:34

the fans in,

23:35

like allowed me to dig more into my

23:37

personality and go, well, I don't have

23:39

to necessarily fit into this box. Or

23:42

I don't necessarily have to fit into this ideal

23:44

because someone says I have to be that. You can amp

23:46

it up and you can have fun because at the end

23:48

of the day, no matter what happens, the basis of

23:50

what we do is essentially to have fun. Exactly.

23:54

You touched on, and I know

23:56

this is something that Kofi, I'm sure was gonna get into, but

23:58

Kofi becoming WWE. champion and

24:01

I was actually just rewatching your

24:03

call and I think I saw so

24:05

much reaction to and obviously

24:08

there were a lot of elements that made that

24:10

feel so special but you were

24:12

a massive part of that and not just the night that Kofi

24:14

won the title but the build-up as well.

24:17

Can you talk more about how you

24:19

I feel like in many

24:21

ways you kind of you in this Kofi

24:24

story just kind of align really well and

24:26

you attached yourself as being the

24:28

voice of that story and

24:31

I think what you guys you almost

24:33

kind of are like referees

24:35

where like great referees are the ones

24:37

that kind of go unnoticed and a lot of times

24:40

you only get people talking about you guys when

24:42

you mess up or there's some kind

24:44

of controversy and sometimes you don't get

24:46

enough credit for wow that was an amazing

24:48

call but this was the one time where I remember people

24:51

saying wow Saks really made

24:53

that moment. Can you talk more about

24:56

was it a conscious decision to say this is

24:58

I'm going to make sure that

25:00

I can tell this story throughout

25:03

and you nailed it on the night of as well.

25:06

Well thank you number one I think for me it

25:08

was just it was just speaking from the heart

25:10

you know it was seeing a guy

25:13

like Kofi who had worked as long

25:15

as he's worked and a guy who's been so

25:17

ultra talented but a guy

25:19

who you know for a long

25:21

time was only seen as okay he's he's

25:24

good but he's not going to be there

25:26

you know and you think he should be there

25:29

and you believe he should be there but for

25:31

whatever reason it just hasn't happened and

25:34

and to get to a point where not only you

25:36

see him climbing that ladder but then you

25:38

see the people are with him and

25:40

they're with him on that journey every step of the way and culminating

25:44

at WrestleMania like I'll never forget like towards

25:46

like the final you know final few minutes

25:48

of that matchup I

25:50

was feeling it so much to the point that my eyes

25:53

like started getting watery you know I'm

25:55

thinking back like I'll tell you I'll give you one one

25:58

comparison here if you think back to when Ron

26:00

Simmons won the WCW

26:02

world title, I think it was like 92 ish

26:05

against Vader. And when he

26:07

won that world title, y'all probably remember

26:09

that kid in the front row. He was going hysterical.

26:12

He's losing his mind. And when Coppy

26:14

won that title, like it meant so much

26:16

to me, but I also started thinking that there's a kid,

26:19

probably thousands of kids who were reacting

26:21

the same way, because someone

26:24

that looked like them achieved

26:26

the greatest honor you could in our industry. And

26:29

that moment just overwhelmed

26:32

me with so much emotion. Yeah.

26:34

I mean, man, gosh, I

26:37

don't even know how to like, begin

26:40

to thank you for that moment,

26:42

Saxton, because, you know, and like even like just

26:45

talking about all like the history and everything I'm

26:47

like, I'm getting like emotional, because

26:49

it all I

26:52

just feel like, you know, parents

26:55

are special in and of themselves. But

26:58

when you have somebody commentating

27:01

on it, you're the narrator of

27:03

exactly what is happening, you

27:05

know, and that is so, so

27:08

important, because that can like

27:10

enhance the moment tremendously, or

27:13

it can make the moment, you know,

27:15

be kind of unmemorable, depending

27:18

on like, which way you go with it, you know, your excitement,

27:21

and the way that you just brought

27:24

those genuine emotions and excitement.

27:27

And I feel like you you

27:29

just encapsulated the moment just

27:32

perfectly, you know, and it's

27:36

like you brought so much to it, but at the same time,

27:38

like didn't step on the moment,

27:41

you know what I'm saying? Like, I don't know, man, I was just I'm

27:43

just so grateful that you were

27:45

able to capture it so well.

27:48

And honestly, like, just perfectly,

27:50

just like legitimately perfectly, like what all

27:52

the words that came out of your mouth were exactly

27:54

what everybody was feeling. And you

27:57

being the narrator, like you said, just not

27:59

for that. moment but for the entire story

28:02

you know it brought so much to

28:04

the table because a lot of times people don't know like

28:06

exactly what's going on and they need somebody to just

28:09

tell them exactly what is going on

28:12

and the way that you did it with the level of excitement that you

28:14

did and just like the love in your voice

28:16

and it's just it

28:18

was like the ultimate icing on the cake

28:21

and I'm just so thankful that

28:23

it was you that was the one to

28:25

to to bring that to the table you

28:27

know to that moment you know what

28:29

I mean like people even still to this day it's

28:31

hard to believe that that was like two two years

28:34

ago you know but

28:36

it still feels like it was yesterday and even to this day like

28:39

I still have people talking about how

28:41

much that moment meant and and

28:43

you just you were like

28:45

I just like the icing on the cake you know like

28:48

just the perfect icing on the perfect

28:50

cake and for me it was my

28:52

childhood dream that came true you

28:55

know and and you brought

28:57

so much to it you made it so much more special

29:00

you know I don't think you get enough credit

29:03

for what you did for me at

29:05

that moment so I'm always indebted

29:07

to you man again like going

29:09

back from developmental and FCW

29:12

and then just the incarnations

29:15

of the new day and us trying to find ourselves and you helping

29:17

us out with that and then you being

29:19

there it like it couldn't have been anyone else but you you know

29:22

what I mean it couldn't have been anyone else you couldn't

29:24

no one else could have brought that level of emotion to

29:26

the uh to the table that you did so thank

29:29

you thank you thank you so so much for that man

29:31

I'll never be able to thank you enough because little

29:34

little kid Kofi wanted this moment

29:36

and you and you were the one that was able to just

29:39

tie everything together in the most perfect

29:42

way and that moment will never be forgotten

29:44

so thank you man thank you so much

29:46

dude just I can't I can't thank

29:48

you enough it was just amazing you're

29:51

gonna make me cry again yeah no

29:57

I you know when you say that it just uh

29:59

I like I like to look at the big picture

30:01

when it comes to life. And

30:04

we never know why we come into people's lives

30:06

or why we interact with certain individuals.

30:08

And I think it's just the coolest thing to know that back

30:12

in 2007, walking into that warehouse, who would have ever

30:14

imagined that

30:16

I'd be calling your main event match at

30:18

WrestleMania. It's just beautiful. It's

30:21

just full circle of life sometimes.

30:23

Circle of life.

30:27

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31:29

I want to get into this

31:31

NXT business. I

31:34

need to hear the

31:37

things you had to do when you were on NXT,

31:39

the old school NXT, random

31:42

games, all that stuff. Nobody

31:44

will ever know. Yeah. I

31:47

pride myself on keeping my stress level low,

31:49

but if there was ever an anxiety-inducing

31:52

time in my career, it was NXT. Because

31:54

it literally showed up having no idea

31:57

what they were going to do, whether it was it

31:59

could be a trivial a contest one week,

32:01

karaoke the next, carrying a beer

32:03

keg, to the flag.

32:06

Like it was... And like guys legit

32:09

got hurt because you didn't hear you

32:11

all these years in developmental training to wrestle and

32:13

now you're like sprinting against other guys

32:15

to test your speed and wheel around

32:17

a horns woggle and a wheelbarrow. Like what?

32:21

I remember the funny part is,

32:24

so after, because I was part of season four and I

32:26

remember talking to one of the guys

32:30

and we were like, man, thank God that's over.

32:33

Thank God it's over. And

32:36

not even five minutes later, John Laurinitis

32:39

approaches us as we walked out of the locker room and he goes,

32:42

hey guys, great news for you. We're

32:44

doing another season. We'll

32:46

see you next week. I'm

32:51

like, it's like that dreadful moment.

32:55

I'll

32:59

tell you what, there's always a silver lining, there's

33:01

always a positive and as unpredictable

33:04

as that time frame

33:07

was, it taught you how to roll

33:10

with the punches because you couldn't prepare

33:12

because it wouldn't let you prepare. And just it

33:14

was hard because you were new on the road, like you're trying to fit

33:16

in a locker room as it is, as a new guy

33:18

and then everyone's judging

33:21

what you're doing, but

33:22

I was able to survive it somehow. It's

33:26

so weird watching because I feel like you have the people who

33:28

are watching in the back and like, whether it's the

33:30

keg carrier, like you said, wheelbarrow with

33:32

the Hornswoggle stuff. And like some

33:34

people like trying to genuinely

33:37

like give advice on like how they would have done it.

33:39

Like, what are you talking about? No dude, no. Even

33:42

training and wheeling the Hornswoggle in a wheelbarrow.

33:45

Yeah, it's a soda chugging

33:47

contest, bro. It's

33:54

a soda like actual. The thing is

33:56

like that gets me about that season because I was actually

33:59

a pro. I was pro, I was pro, yeah. So Michael

34:01

McGillicuddy, AKA Joe

34:03

Hennig, you know, was my guy,

34:06

I was the pro. He was the rookie,

34:08

which is what? Like how is he the rookie?

34:11

Wait, what? No. So, but like

34:13

they had no idea of like

34:15

what was gonna happen. But the thing is that like the

34:17

people, like it didn't translate. So I feel

34:20

like it was never quite appreciated

34:22

by the fans because you

34:25

think, oh, well, oh, it's part of the show. Oh,

34:27

okay. Well, here's the part where they get to drug

34:29

all this and they don't,

34:31

it's like, no, dude. Like they had no idea

34:34

what they were doing. Oh.

34:37

On national television, on international television,

34:39

you're going out there with, no,

34:42

you're just no idea. No, not

34:44

even an inkling of what you're supposed to be doing.

34:46

What you're supposed to be doing well. What

34:49

you're supposed to be doing well. You have no idea. So

34:51

I just feel like, man, that season was something like

34:54

it will never be appreciated as much as it should

34:56

be. Oh. Another chapter

34:59

wrote down that chapter, survived it. Yeah.

35:03

It's one thing to be like, oh, you know, I'm on the road.

35:05

I'm going out and having like my first match on TV. Like

35:07

obviously like you're nervous, but

35:10

you know what to expect. Wrestling is wrestling wherever you

35:12

do it. Like a bigger ring smaller or whatever, like it's wrestling.

35:15

So like, what was it like that first

35:17

day that you showed up and you don't know what you're

35:19

doing until like you're doing it pretty

35:21

much. So part of me was excited

35:24

because I, you know, I was on the road

35:26

prior as a commentator. So I was like, okay, cool. I'm

35:28

not going to be seen as

35:29

a wrestler, but

35:31

you're not really seeing the way you

35:33

want to be seen because now, oh shoot, I

35:35

got to tap into my, my wrestling

35:37

knowledge now. Cause I have to remember what happened in 1985. Right

35:42

now on the spot. And I remember we did it. We

35:44

did a trivia competition. I know this. I

35:46

know wrestling trivia and they ask you something and you're on the spot

35:49

and the whole crowd staring at you. And you're just dumbfounded

35:51

and you go, no, no, I'm really smarter than you think.

35:53

You don't understand. I'm going to get it right.

35:56

I remember

35:58

Connor from Ascension. Like he was, he was out

36:01

there with me and we were doing a contest

36:03

about, uh, which talent that hosted WrestleMania.

36:06

And again, just with the nerves kicking in and everything,

36:10

you know, they were asking, they're asking what

36:12

town hosted WrestleMania, but he thought the

36:14

question was, who was the host

36:16

of WrestleMania? So like,

36:19

you know, the question gets opposed to Connor

36:21

like, Hey, uh, uh, what

36:24

city hosted WrestleMania 13? And he

36:26

goes, Phoebe Herman. Wait

36:30

a minute. Did I hear the question wrong? Thinking

36:33

about hosts. Oh no, I start freaking out because

36:35

he misfirmed the question. Curveball

36:39

curveball. Unnecessary

36:42

stress. Why balding up here? I

36:49

used to get anxiety because I was in

36:51

SDW at the time. And I think I heard like

36:53

a rumor or two that I was going to be on the next season. And I

36:55

just pray and somehow, it

36:58

can be hard to, to overcome

37:01

that bad person impression. I know with

37:03

me, I was still pretty green, whatnot, but I would

37:05

just come back. You guys would come back at

37:07

times would tell us these horror stories because

37:10

you know, for the most part, what we what we try to do or

37:12

should try to do in this industry is

37:14

you play to talent strengths and

37:17

you try to make them look as good as possible.

37:20

And that's, that's what we do. But to

37:22

have this, not even like, Hey, we'll throw

37:24

any possible pro wrestling challenge

37:27

at you where you might have a match with,

37:29

you know, or in Swago or Kali,

37:32

but it's not just that, but we can throw legitimately

37:35

any kind of challenge we want at you

37:37

with no preparation, no warmup

37:40

note. And yeah, I'd take

37:42

my head off to you guys because I would legit,

37:45

I couldn't just watch and enjoy

37:47

it. I would watch thinking of myself

37:50

and that same position. And I, I think back

37:52

there's so many memorable moments with the show. I

37:55

think back to Eli Cottonwood and his mustache

37:57

promo. about

38:00

it. I love Eli. We still talk from

38:02

time to time. Great dude. I

38:05

think of Titus's iconic make

38:07

it a win. You know, when

38:09

I was in the ring for that, you

38:11

are, I was in the ring for that man. I

38:14

remember it cause I was in there and you

38:16

could just see Titus's lip like start to quiver, you know,

38:18

the wife say, if you go make it a fight, make

38:21

it a fight. And if you go make it a win and his lips

38:23

just goes, make

38:25

it a win. He goes, make

38:27

it a win. Oh my God. I just,

38:29

I want to say that was in

38:35

either Orlando or Tampa. Cause I was, I'm

38:37

pretty sure I was backstage for that. I think they had

38:39

a bunch of FCW talent. I think it was somewhere in Florida. I wouldn't

38:42

say. Um, but I remember being backstage

38:44

for that one and just thinking

38:46

that poor and

38:49

the thing about it is what does any of it have to do with

38:51

how good of a WWE superstar you're going to be?

38:53

Nothing. I can shove soda really

38:55

fast. That's going to make me world champ. I

38:57

w what? Like none of it. I can carry a

39:00

barrel around a keg around the ring

39:02

really quickly or potato sack race.

39:04

Boy, that's going to make

39:07

me a great wrestler. Shine that I see

39:09

title up for me. What are we doing? What

39:11

are we doing? I remember too. Like it

39:13

would be hard cause you would do something on TV that week

39:15

that you were embarrassed by, but then

39:18

I still had to go back to FCW and face all the

39:20

boys. You

39:27

better be in the class that Wednesday mornings. We can

39:29

roast you. Like

39:33

he was saying, like we would watch it and we were all terrified.

39:35

And then E we were on

39:37

the season that didn't happen. Oh, that's right.

39:40

I completely forgot. She shot some stuff.

39:42

This real fear that Byron has been

39:45

explaining, like that, that fear was like

39:47

the, the anxiety that we had watching

39:49

because we knew like we could be next. And then

39:52

eventually, and then we would see like when you

39:54

guys would come back on winter is how like it was like walking

40:00

slow, just scared. You don't, don't make any

40:02

movements around you. But

40:05

like there was a, there was a season that never aired.

40:07

And, uh, I think one was like generational.

40:09

All the guys who were like second or third generation. And

40:12

then it was like those of us who were like the,

40:14

they're like upstarts or whatever they called us and

40:16

we filmed everything. And all of us, the whole day

40:18

we were feeling like, please, the

40:22

season happened. Please. We're so scared. So,

40:26

okay. So there's, there's some NXT stuff. Uh,

40:28

but now to get deeper into your

40:31

brain as a human person, the

40:34

time that we're talking right now, right now, it's

40:36

almost Halloween. And

40:40

Byron, if there's one thing I know about you, I

40:42

know that you've loved some Halloween. Yes,

40:45

sir. Time

40:49

to get some scares. It's

40:53

actually, so I love haunted houses,

40:56

love haunted houses. And the

40:58

one tough part about the

41:00

sign of the times right now is that we're not touring.

41:03

And so I can't visit haunted houses

41:06

like all over the country, like I usually would do,

41:08

but that is my thing, man. Like now, even I've, I've,

41:11

I feel disappointed in myself because I've only knocked

41:13

out two haunted houses. And, and

41:16

yeah, cause now I'm like, okay, well, what are the safety guidelines?

41:18

What are they doing here? Is this thing? Okay.

41:21

But I've got, I've got a few more haunts

41:23

like on my, on my schedule. Um, you

41:26

know, it's a bush garden. We hit

41:29

enough screen again in, I actually,

41:31

so it's my life goal one day to actually

41:34

create and host a haunted house for the public. Oh,

41:37

that's K. We could do that next year. I

41:39

mean, it could be, it could be the worst for next year.

41:42

You some zombies in there. You can let a brother know. I'll

41:45

come in there. With

41:48

the claws of the zombie, the zombie stride,

41:51

you know? Yeah. I got my strobe lights.

41:53

I got my inflatable pumpkin outside the house already.

41:55

Like I'm slowly taking those steps.

41:57

You know, I got a body chain, you know. and

42:00

get a few trustworthy actors, and I'm gonna make it happen,

42:02

you watch. Well, you call it. I'll

42:05

give you guys a fast pass too, don't worry. Oh, yeah.

42:07

Oh, yeah, I appreciate it. Yeah, I got you, I got you. I appreciate

42:09

you, Zach. I'm gonna call it Saxton Scares.

42:12

Saxton Scares. Ooh, that was the lorition.

42:14

I love the lorition. Ooh! Ooh!

42:17

Where did this love of Halloween stem from? It

42:20

actually so came from my ex-girlfriend.

42:23

I was like, oh, the way she was this huge on

42:25

going to her houses. So like, okay, cool, this

42:27

is a fun little endeavor for us. And I just fell

42:29

in love with the

42:29

experience.

42:30

And the weird part for

42:32

me is that I legit get scared. I've

42:35

had clowns corner me and chase

42:38

me. I've been tackled

42:40

by children just up as zombies. Like, it's gotten

42:42

pretty rough. To

42:45

the point where when I travel around to these different

42:47

haunted houses, I'll try to tailgate

42:49

like another couple or another family.

42:52

Because I don't like being alone. But

42:55

then you go to some of these houses where they like

42:57

making a point to separate you. And of course,

42:59

look at me, I'm the big target, not the eight year old in front

43:02

of me. So they go and grab me, pull

43:04

me into another room. I

43:06

get out of there and I drop about 10 pounds worth because

43:09

I've been sweating so much. But it's like, it's an

43:11

adrenaline rush, but I'm still scared out

43:13

of my mind. Makes no sense, but I'm

43:15

addicted to it. You know? The

43:17

first time I could talk about them. So I didn't realize,

43:20

like, we've talked about this before.

43:22

So as we travel, like I go to every

43:24

arcade bar that I can find, wherever we are in the

43:26

world, I had no clue that you were

43:28

the same exact way with haunted houses. And

43:31

so like, you came up to me once, I'm like, hey, what are

43:33

you doing tonight? I'm gonna go home, I'm doing this thing. I'm like, okay, well, I'm

43:36

gonna hit this haunted house if you change your mind. Okay, cool. Then

43:38

the next week, same thing. I'm gonna hit

43:40

two different ones if you wanna come. What? And

43:42

then next week it goes, okay, so in this town there's two, and

43:45

then this one there's three. So if we get this one like early in the day

43:47

before the show, then we get this one after, then we get the

43:49

next one like, what? You like map

43:51

this out. Like. Yeah, I can't

43:53

tell you how many times like, if

43:55

I was, let's say I'm doing smackdown at the time. And

43:58

we'd get all. the air at 10 o'clock

44:00

and I'd be calling ahead and I'd be like, Hey, what time do you close?

44:03

Oh, we close at 10 30. Is there any way you can

44:05

stay open a little bit later? I'm here in town.

44:08

I'm doing a WWE show. I'm going to rush over there

44:10

and I would get there with like five minutes to spare.

44:13

But I like, to your point, I mapped it out so

44:15

precisely that I would get there and still be able to enjoy

44:17

the hunt. That's

44:27

Halloween talk for you. We call them. You

44:30

gotta learn that if you're going to work at haunted house.

44:32

Oh, you're right. You're

44:36

right. You're right. Yeah. Yeah. You'll stop laughing. You'll stop laughing. You're

44:38

right. I'm gonna write that down. Very serious times. Very

44:40

serious times. So it's just a thing like as

44:42

they grow into a love of all of Halloween or just like

44:44

specifically haunted houses, are you into like, you

44:46

know, getting good candy for trick or treaters that

44:48

might come around and things like that? Like, or is it

44:50

specifically the houses? So it's

44:53

always been the houses because with our

44:55

schedule, I haven't been home on Halloween,

44:57

you know, for at least the last five years. And I'm

44:59

actually, I'm

45:00

conflicted because this

45:02

year I, I'm looking forward to giving

45:04

out candy,

45:05

but then I'm like, well, how can I do it in a safe way? Like,

45:07

do I get a flingshot or something? Up

45:10

and out quest bars to the kids. What's

45:14

the quest bar? Oh, come on. We have to set a good example.

45:17

You know, that I'm not good. You're talking about candy.

45:21

They're good. Quest bars are good. Come on now.

45:23

You know, they got the key to

45:25

the keto bars, peanut butter flavored, really good stuff. People

45:27

just don't know. Yeah. So I gotta, I gotta, I gotta navigate

45:29

that part, but I'm looking forward to giving out candy or snacks

45:32

or some sort of nutritional item to the

45:34

kids. Yeah. I like to catapult maybe a 10

45:36

foot pole with a net. Oh, you

45:38

can extend through your door. That's another option. Put

45:43

like a little, uh, uh, portable, uh,

45:45

hand sanitizer in there too. Wrap them up together.

45:47

You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Sanitizer and the candy.

45:50

Yes. So I was thinking about like, some

45:52

people just put the bucket out there with the candy and say,

45:54

you know, take one. I'm going, well, that's not sanitary.

45:57

Can't do that anymore. But if I just

45:59

get like, a hundred Ziploc bags,

46:01

right? And put the snacks in

46:04

there that are already pre-wrapped, then you

46:06

provide some extra safety for the kids out there.

46:08

Oh, extra layer. What's the

46:10

thing for like for pets, where you can have

46:13

the little treat dispenser and

46:15

you can do it on your phone? Oh yeah. Oh

46:17

yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah.

46:20

Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh

46:23

yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh

46:25

yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh

46:27

yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah.

46:31

This is not the way Halloween was supposed to be. It's a new

46:34

age Halloween. Okay. And

46:37

we do it in 2020. Oh no. Do

46:39

you guys see how they're gonna party? Like, is that gonna

46:41

be your work? I just imagine

46:43

Zach said enjoy it. Bark for me. You're

46:47

not gonna run. No, you're not gonna bark.

46:50

No, you better bark. Bark can't better bark. Oh,

46:55

we're teaching our kids discipline. That's all.

46:58

All right. You may not do things in life that you wanna

47:00

do, but if you get through them and get to

47:02

that adversity, you become a better person on the other side.

47:05

That nothing's free. Nothing's free. That's

47:07

what I'm saying, Andy, you better bark. That's right. Woo, woo,

47:09

woo. Woo, woo. Woo, woo. Woo,

47:11

woo. Woo, woo. And then carry

47:13

this kegger on my house one time. Woo,

47:16

woo, woo. Woo, woo, woo. Woo, woo, woo. Woo,

47:18

woo, woo. Where's my pro? Woo, woo, woo. Can

47:21

I have the candy now? I'll get my pro, my old pro Yoshitatsu

47:23

out here. Hey, yo, hey. Hey, yo, hey. Hey,

47:26

yo, hey. Oh, Yoshitatsu. We

47:28

need to have him on the podcast. Well, I'd be

47:30

remiss if we didn't, we need to have like

47:32

official music for our last segment. You

47:35

wanna go to it? All right, play off. For

47:38

some reason, we've ended up talking

47:40

about potty talk and

47:43

bathroom behaviors for the last

47:46

several podcasts. And for some reason,

47:48

it's very fascinating to us. So we kind

47:50

of, our entry into the conversation was

47:53

us asking for a lot of questions. The entry into the conversation

47:55

was us asking

47:57

people. There's some people who will fold

47:59

the toilet paper. You

48:02

can't give them the type, you gotta just let them explain

48:04

it. It's gonna come in line. Okay,

48:07

we would like to know what

48:09

your technique is with your toilet

48:11

paper use. Call it up like

48:13

a snowball. Come on. You

48:15

see, I told you. That's the connection, bro. That's the connection.

48:18

You can only get one wipe out of

48:20

a ball. You

48:25

don't need to try to convince them. Okay. He's

48:27

like, wax on, wax off. You take your time. Okay. You

48:30

enjoy the process. Trust the process. Yeah.

48:33

What's an eye? We fold. We

48:35

fold the oddballs. What? I

48:37

feel like no people fold. That's what I would say too. ways

48:40

to wait. Okay. So you're like,

48:42

I'm gonna have to do this. I'm gonna have to do this. I'm gonna have

48:44

to do this. I'm gonna have to do this. I'm gonna

48:46

have to do this. I'm gonna have to do this. I'm gonna have to do

48:49

this. That's what I would say too. But then

48:51

when we asked everybody in the locker room, it was, we found like seven

48:53

different ways to wait. So it

48:55

also, let's see what you don't realize is that by balling

48:58

up like a snowball, you also enhance your grip strength.

49:01

Sir. You know that. Do you know

49:03

that? Do you know that? Do you know that? Do

49:06

you? Avoid that carpal tunnel. Okay.

49:08

You ball it. I mean, you squeeze it. Yeah.

49:11

It'll be a big forearms. You do that for a year, man. They

49:13

won't even recognize you. You see it. See it's

49:15

like my forearm. All right. That's some

49:18

ball in the toilet paper. That's a ball right there. It's

49:20

just you think you're strong

49:22

now. Imagine how strong you could be. Uh

49:24

huh. Well, I was, I was getting

49:27

strong when I was, when I would hover because

49:29

I'm also, that's another question when I'm

49:31

in public, I try not to go, but

49:33

I hover. So you just, you just sit in a good squat

49:36

and that you want to talk about building strength. You

49:38

hover. Just saying good leg strength.

49:40

It's unnecessary stress on the quads. Oh

49:43

wow. You sit right on there. Yeah.

49:46

You make sure you're covering

49:49

first. Obviously. You make an

49:51

effort. Yeah. My man.

49:53

Do you see the connection now? Now do you see the connection? This

49:55

is why everything makes sense, bro. It

50:00

had to be you. That's what I was saying.

50:02

It had to be you. I didn't even

50:05

know this was so now. We were both ballers back in the

50:07

day. Using the bathroom and FCW at separate

50:09

times, both balling at separate times, not

50:11

knowing that years later, here

50:13

you are calling a match for me to

50:16

become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

50:18

You know, a baller. That's golly.

50:22

Wow. We're the bald eagles of this group.

50:24

Bald eagles. Make their own nest. That's right.

50:26

You make a nest. All the eagles. And you fly.

50:29

Yeah. Golly. Y'all

50:32

better get some wings, bro. Where

50:35

do you want to fly? Y'all want to

50:37

fly? Y'all want to stay on the ground. We're going to soar.

50:39

We're trying to soar up in the sky. So

50:43

here's my issue, and I've said this many times, with

50:45

building a nest is sometimes you

50:48

move around a little bit, your cheeks slide around. Isn't

50:50

there times when your bare

50:52

butt is exposed to the porcelain?

50:55

You don't have a good nest. How much of a paper are

50:57

you using for your nest? That's a lot of paper. Don't

51:00

judge the cost. Too much. Don't judge the

51:02

cost. Okay, that's a process. It's worth it.

51:04

You got an end, but at what cost? You invest in yourself.

51:07

Like half a roll? You invest in yourself.

51:09

Okay, that's a philosophy. Invest in

51:11

yourself, invest in a nest. That's a shirt.

51:14

So then here's the question, and I know this is going to just not get into

51:16

left field. So when you talk about getting

51:18

as many napkins as he needs, then not investing

51:20

in himself. Mm-hmm. So many napkins as he

51:22

needs. So we got to let Saxton in. Yeah.

51:25

Okay. We got to let Saxton in. And I don't

51:27

want to rehash this whole thing, but Kofi got on me because

51:30

I would tend from fast food places. I

51:32

would like to, on the road, I would collect a lot of napkins.

51:34

I don't want to rehash this. We talked about this ad nauseam,

51:37

but that's why we're referencing the napkins.

51:40

Well, here's the thing. As long as

51:42

you're utilizing those napkins for a solid purpose,

51:45

because if I go to a restaurant, I

51:47

always bring a number of extra napkins

51:49

because I know I'm going to utilize them, perhaps in the car, perhaps

51:53

at home, or if you have an emergency,

51:55

which I've been in that case before, where maybe you

51:57

have to take care of some business and you don't have

51:59

toilet paper. So you have to look for

52:01

a second option. Do you feel like that's stealing because

52:03

you're going and taking the napkins from the the

52:06

food facility That is meant for

52:08

the food and you're using that for something else. Like if you

52:10

needed napkins for

52:14

Extra anything else but your food you

52:16

would probably go and buy them right ordinarily But

52:18

I mean, do you feel like that's stealing thefts?

52:21

It would be stealing my city It would be stealing

52:23

if they were a sign that indicated that these

52:25

napkins are to only be used for the consumption of food

52:28

Wow, they got a special The

52:31

official, the official, I mean They

52:33

got signs for everything else They're right, exactly So

52:37

if they don't have a sign that says hey these

52:39

shares are not meant for taking your libel You can take

52:41

the shares too from the rest of us Well you use some

52:44

common sense too, but I mean legitimately you should have

52:46

a sign that says that You should think about it. They

52:48

wouldn't you? Don't they write on coffee

52:50

cups like at McDonald's and stuff like this cup of

52:52

coffee is hot the liquid is hot because somebody's

52:55

holding themselves up with like wait what? It's

52:57

hot What

52:59

a reach by the way to go to chairs Like you can just

53:01

walk out of the chairs Why not? Why

53:04

by that logic you gotta have a sign for what you can't

53:07

take from the restaurant, right? So you

53:09

can just you can take all you can you can go back there

53:11

and just and take the

53:13

pots and pans You know? There's

53:15

no sign There's no sign that says you

53:17

can't walk in the store and take these pots and pans out

53:20

I mean you walk in the store you pay for a meal that means you

53:22

can have whatever you want Hey, listen, listen, okay,

53:24

why do you buy health insurance to protect

53:26

yourself against something going wrong? Correct?

53:29

Yeah, you would buy a sign to protect

53:31

your items Being removed

53:34

against your will It's the same concept

53:37

It only makes it And

53:40

that's You need to

53:42

reevaluate reevaluate some life decisions and make

53:45

it with you We

53:47

still got our net we still fly We

53:51

still fly that's right, that's okay I

53:55

don't like it and that will be our end I

54:00

appreciate you, Scott. Thanks, Saxton. Where

54:02

can they find you on social? So

54:04

on Instagram, I am at OfficialByronSaxton.

54:06

And on Twitter, I am at ByronSaxton.

54:10

Nice. You can catch me on the Twitter

54:12

and Instagram at AustinCreedWins. Catch the YouTube

54:14

channel, UpUpDownDown on the YouTubes.

54:17

Or Instagram and Twitter, UpUpDownDown without the Os.

54:19

Check out UUDDShop.com for

54:21

all your UpUpDownDown apparel. You can catch me

54:23

on Twitter at True Kofi. And catch

54:25

me on the Instagram at TheTrueKofi.

54:28

I am at WWEBiggie on Twitter

54:31

and on Instagram. But it's really,

54:33

honestly, a waste of time to follow me

54:35

or to peruse my content because I'm uninspired

54:38

these days. I don't really have anything to add to the conversation.

54:41

I don't really have a desire to post. Nothing

54:43

has come to me. So it's really a waste

54:45

of time, no waste of time. And you know the whole

54:47

bit, too. If you follow me, unfollow me, because I don't

54:49

need your pity follows. I don't want them. You think

54:51

I care about your numbers? What's your numbers doing for

54:53

the quality of my life? You know what I mean? What

54:56

you doing for me? That does nothing for me. You

54:58

know what I mean? I don't need your validation. I

55:00

don't want it. Take it back. Take your

55:02

validation from me. I want to see all my numbers

55:05

plummet. When I, next time, as

55:07

soon as this podcast drops, I

55:10

want to check my phone and say, oh, I lost half my followers.

55:12

Kill it. That's

55:15

what I want. Thank you. Also,

55:17

you can find our podcast shirt at WWE

55:19

shop. You can find the New Day charity

55:21

tee. The link is on my

55:24

Twitter. It's the pin tweet. And it's in my Instagram

55:26

bio. The proceeds go to the NAACP

55:29

Legal Defense Fund. Yes, yes. And thank you so

55:31

much for listening. Make sure you share with your friends, your

55:33

amigos. Tell them how much you love this episode

55:36

with the one and only Byron Saxton.

55:38

And tell them they can download this podcast

55:40

wherever it is in their podcast. Just go to the search

55:43

bar. Type in New Day. Click the pink picture with three black

55:45

guys face on it. That's your boys. Yeah,

55:47

I forgot. I'm sorry. I forgot. Watch Blazing Wolf 2. Watch

55:49

Blazing Wolf. It's on HBO Max. Season 2

55:52

coming soon. And your boys

55:54

might all make an appearance or something. But we got some

55:56

special for you. Season 2. Watch Blazing Wolf. It's

55:58

coming on Adult Swim. And

56:01

if you're listening on the Apple, make sure you give us that

56:03

five star review because it helps your boys out But

56:05

again last time big thank

56:08

you to Byron seconds for being on today.

56:10

Thanks. Thank you guys My

56:12

pleasure. Thank you, bro. It's you guys next

56:15

week